"You win?"
Stelle's face soured as she watched Yoru step out of the smoke unharmed.
"I'm still alive and kicking," Yoru announced as he stood in front of the smoke. "All that bluster and not a scratch."
"That was basically my strongest move," Stelle responded indignantly. "There's no way you could have survived that direct hit."
Yoru smirked at that. "I used one of my skills, equivalent exchange."
"And what did you exchange? Exchange your healing for a stronger body?"
"No," Yoru said, his expression unwavering. "I sacrificed popcorn every other afternoon when the temperature is precisely 25 degrees Celsius every four amber eras."
"... that's not equivalent."
"Says who?"
Stelle cracked her neck, getting back into a fighting stance. "Enough chatter. I'm still winning this."
Yoru returned the favor, putting his fists up, mirroring Stelle's. "Yes, yes. Be confident."
Stelle dashed at Yoru, a fist outstretched. She throws a punch towards his face.
Yoru put his hands up to block, taking the blow, countering with an attack of his own.
[Skill Activate: Distance Cut]
Yoru flicked his arm out towards Stelle, a large slash rupturing the floor as it flies towards Stelle.
"Tch!"
Stelle's image becomes a blur, before she practically teleports off to the side away from the slash.
The slash continued forward, cutting through an entire building, the severed part sliding off.
"I'm going to start spamming," Yoru announced, his small grin turning into a malevolent grin. "Fly!"
Yoru started throwing cut after cut towards Stelle, cutting buildings behind her as she ran through the streets, jumping and weaving through the cuts.
She stuck her arm out, a finger pointed towards Yoru. A ball of orange formed at the finger, before she let it loose.
The ball flew towards Yoru, hitting him squarely in the stomach.
"Ack!"
BOOM!
The ball exploded, sending Yoru flying in the opposite direction, the constant cuts towards Stelle halting as he flew.
He slammed into a tall building, his body lodged into the stone.
Stelle wasn't done yet. Her image became a blur yet again, before she reappeared in front of Yoru.
A punch flew into Yoru's stomach, before a flash appeared—sparks of green and orange fly.
"Argh!" Yoru coughed out.
Yoru was sent flying through the building, landing outside back onto the street, clutching his stomach.
He looked up, Stelle hovering above where he once was, an expression of utmost confidence plastered on her face.
"Whatever," Yoru said, starting to grip his hands in front of him. "Round two."
[Skill Activate: My Secret Treasure]
Behind Yoru, a shadow grew, before manifesting. A large Clockie without the clock face appeared behind Yoru. A small clock hovered above its head.
"A two vs one?" Stelle observed, a small hint of unease creeping up her expression before it's masked. "Need help to beat me?"
"No," Yoru said. "It's..."
[Skill Activate: My Other Treasure]
Beside Yoru, another shadow grew and manifested. A large Hanu appeared beside him.
"It's a three on one."
The large Clockie and Hanu immediately leapt into action, jumping towards Stelle who still hovered in the air.
Another orange sphere appeared at Stelle's fingertip, before she fired it towards Clockie. The sphere glowed brightly, before exploding, sending Clockie into a building.
As Hanu got closer, Stelle charged in.
Wham! Wham!
Stelle threw two punches, connecting squarely into Hanu's face, but he didn't falter.
Hanu tried to grab at Stelle's foot, but was stopped, its hand unable to reach her.
"Oh, would you look at that," Stelle announced proudly. "It seems my passive does work!"
Stelle grabbed Hanu's wrist, before spinning it around in a circle. Building enough momentum, Stelle sent the beast flying into the street below.
"Come on!" Stelle shouted, before flying towards Yoru. "Show me something interesting!"
"Fine," Yoru responded. "Better use your win condition, or I'm taking this."
Stelle clasped her hands together into a prayer, energy building within her.
Yoru slammed his hands into the floor, energy also building.
[Skill Activate: Evil Building]
"Estate Enlargement," Stelle said, her voice crystal clear.
"Estate Enlargement," Yoru mimicked, his voice growing deeper.
The two spoke nearly at the same time, a sphere surrounding the two of them as they spoke.
"Unbounded Space."
"Evil Building."
Within the space, the two stared at each other, before both their hands dropped to their sides.
Yoru was just a tad bit late on activating his skill. He sat still, a sitting duck within Stelle's trump card.
"Ha!" Stelle laughed, before pointing her finger towards Yoru. "I win! No more popcorn won't save you this time!"
Suddenly, the sphere cracked, before shattering completely.
Stelle looked around in shock, before noticing Clockie and Hanu, not out of commission yet as they charge in after breaking the sphere.
"Ack!" Stelle turned to face the two charging her.
[Skill Activate: Space Cut]
Yoru threw his arm across his torso, putting his entire being into the swing. The world turned monochrome for a split second, before it returned to normal.
Stelle turned back to look at Yoru.
"What did you do—"
Suddenly, the world turned black.
When Yoru opened his eyes again, he was back in Penacony. Stelle stood beside him, also getting booted out of the dream bubble.
"Well trailblazers," Dr. Edward said as the two of them start to return back to the Golden Hour. "It seems that the sir won this one."
"What?!" Stelle said, looking at Dr. Edward. "How?"
"He cut you in half."
"Damn!" Stelle said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I lost?"
"Ha!" Yoru said, pointing at her. "That's 1-1 now, chump!"
"It's whatever!" Stelle rebuked. "We'll find something else to compete in! I'm not letting us tie, not when the best newest addition to the Express is on the line!"
"Would you two like to purchase this dream bubble?" Dr. Edward asked.
"No thanks," Yoru responded. "I don't—"
"I'm buying it," Stelle said, butting in as she purchased the dream bubble. "We're rematching this one next time."
Yoru sighed.
The two trailblazers left the store, with Stelle putting the dream bubble away.
"Where to?" Yoru asked.
"We'll find something," Stelle grumbled. "Let's just—"
Stelle stopped talking, before looking away towards a random direction. "You hear that commotion?"
Yoru paused. "Right. This did happen in the story."
"Should we go check it out?" Yoru prompted. "It might be a good idea."
"Sure," Stelle responded. "We can see if its a competition."
The pair started their walk towards the commotion, just a small bit away.
"I suppose this is when we meet Firefly for the first time."